In the Forest of the Night
by Puppy
Summary: Spin off of Carina. Jade, still with Manticore, catches Max and Zack stealing from Manticore. Following them she finds her sister, Carina, and has to run for her life but Zack won’t let her run alone.
1. Forest 1 thru 5 Part 1, She couldn’t ...

Carina, Carina&Jake, and Forest are all inspired by DA and originally posted on forums.delphiforums.com/darkangelfans which explains the format. As they are continued there will be formatted better. -Puppy  
  
  
This is the spin off to Carina, which every one should read ;), although I think it can stand alone. Oh and you are suppose to be confused out the past, it's a mystery.   
Warning: contains stonger language then most of my stories and I don't have Cat's artistic gift for writting it other ways.   
  
In the last episode of Carina:   
"It was the disk with Carina's schematics." Jade opened her mouth in disbelief.   
  
"You're a God d**n idiot Zack," she yelled at him. "Did you forgot every f*cking thing Manticore taught you?"   
  
"What are you talking about?" Zack retorted.   
  
"Oh God," Jade said and as she realized how much he had screwed her over, the blood drained out of her face.   
  
"What?" he asked, suddenly on alert.   
  
"The tracking device, it'll lead them right here," she said as she began to pace.   
  
"What tracking device what are you talking about?" he said as he placed himself in her path.   
  
"The tracking device in me," she said as her eyes grew sad. "Don't you think I tried to escape again? After the first few times they put a tracking device in somewhere during one of their experiments. And think Zack. Remember Lydecker always said know your enemy Zack. He's the kind of sick f**k who would review those disks every night before he went to bed. So he would know their weaknesses. Especially Carina because she just slipped through his fingers," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "He'll think it was me," she added. Zack's mind raced.   
  
"What if you leave? They'll just follow that signal until they find you," Zack said.   
  
"But I've been here for hours. They're too smart to just pass this place by. Especially with the information they think I have. We have to get everyone out now."   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
This isn't the inspiration just the mood setter and source for the title.   
  
William Blake   
The Tiger   
  
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright   
In the forest of the night   
What immortal hand or eye   
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?   
  
In what distant deeps or skies   
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?   
On what wings dare he aspire?   
What the hand dare seize the fire?   
  
And What shoulder, and what art,   
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?   
And when thy heart began to beat,   
What dread hand? and what dread feet?   
  
What the hammer? what the chain?   
In what furnace was thy brain?   
What the anvil? what dread grasp   
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?   
  
When the stars threw down their spears,   
And watered heaven with their tears,   
Did he smile his work to see?   
Did he who made the lamb make thee?   
  
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright   
In the forests of the night,   
What immortal hand or eye   
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Finally we get to the story. Enjoy -puppy   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
In the forest of the night   
Part 1   
  
Sebastian's people were there in 5 to 10 minutes and a hour later the lab looked like it should have tumbling weed blowing across it while "the good the bad and the ugly" played in the background. Max and Zack watched the perimeter and I stayed with Carina and Jake. I can't say that I was completely disappointed that Carina hadn't woken up yet. Something inside me just wasn't ready to face her.   
  
So when the civilians were out of harms way and Carina was safety tucked into Logan's ugly a** Aztec I rode off. I left a letter with Jake that said something like "Hey Carina, I hope you're well," and all that family friendly bull[deleted]. Tell you the truth I can't recall what I wrote. I must have started forgetting that memory first. I had to laugh at my dramatic exit but that's the way it's got to be. I made that choice long ago. Now I'll just have to run until they find me and hope they kill me before I remember her. It's an ironic thought, dying for someone you can't remember.   
  
Jade raced down the streets of Seattle heading west. There were caves along the coast that would dampen the signal; it would give her a opportunity to think. She didn't tell Zack or the others but this was her last chance. Lydecker promised her cancellation if she ran again. The fear loomed in Jade's mind as she rode at top speed.   
  
"D**n you Zack," she muttered to herself. Just then she heard it, the whir of an engine. She passed another alley and she heard it again. She reduced her speed and as she passed another alley she saw another biker ridding on a parallel street. It could have been anyone out riding but to test it she turned and rode a block away from the biker then resumed her original direction. Sure enough the biker appeared on the street next to her.   
  
She stopped her bike before the next street and waited. She heard him turn around and head back down her alley. He slowed down and listened. He could see her, he couldn't hear her, this was bad although he didn't know just how bad until he found himself clothes lined and pinned to the ground. Jade ripped off the riders helmet to see the ever-stoic face of Zack.   
  
"Are you f**king mad Zack," she screamed at him as she threw the helmet aside, "I thought you were trained as a soldier." She waited for his response but none came. She narrowed her eyes at him the stood up suddenly. "Get your sorry excuse for a Ken doll out of her,"   
  
"I can't leave until I know you're safe," Zack said after jumping to his feet.   
  
"Yeah well I'm not going to be safe Zack so just get out of here before Lydecker catches you," she said harshly as she went for her bike   
  
"You think I'm going to leaving you to him again Jade?" he retorted. She didn't answer him just got on her bike and started it up. She was about to take off when Zack grabbed her from behind and pulled her off the bike. She wrapped her legs back around his, held his arms tighter to her and flipped the two of them to the ground. He landed beneath her with a grunt and she turned and held Zack by his collar. It wasn't a move that would subdue him physically but the urgency to get to the caves was growing. The closer they got to her before she got there, the more they would have her location pinpointed.   
  
"Just let me go," she pleaded.   
  
"I can't," he responded stubbornly. Jade sighed and Zack could see the tears welling up in her eyes. She reached down and pushed a few pressure points in his neck. His eyes went wide then he passed out. She sniffled and brushed a quick kiss across his lips.   
  
"Good bye Zack," she whispered before raising herself to her feet. She stoically wheeled Zack's misplaced bike beside him and took one last look at the escapee's fearless hero before mounting her bike and driving off.   
  
Jade: Now I think I know how death row inmates feel. You go on living, going through the motions and all the while knowing the warden's going to walk down that hall and tell you it's time. Part of me wants to lay down and let them come. But there is still apart of me who's afraid I'll break. It's amazing how the most important secret in your life is the hardest to forget.   
  
My real world swearing skills are getting a little out of control and I think it might have something to do with this story so I'm going to tone it down a little. Oh and I don't know if the Seattle coast has any caves or not but I'm taking artistic license for lack of evidence -puppy   
In the forest of the night   
Part 2   
(She couldn't swim forever)   
Zack suddenly snapped awake. His mind went racing trying to remember what had happened as he jumped up and got on his bike. She was going west, probably headed for the coast. He didn't know the area but maybe she had a hide out of some kind. He turned his bike east and raced to Logan's. He had followed Max there two weeks ago before the first time they had met face to face. If wheels had the kind of technology that could knock out Carina he might be able keep Lydecker off Jade's tail while getting her position.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
Meanwhile Jade paced inside the cave. It had been an hour since she knocked Zack out and before morning Lydecker would show up. At least in here she had more time to prepare for the most important fight of her life. She stopped and looked around her for a place to sit. She found a large rock and began to meditate. She counted breaths in cycles of ten (one for inhale two for exhale). She pushed away everything clouding her mind and focused on her counting while keeping a light awareness of her surroundings. She entered a relax state and switched to counting once for every in and out breath, up to ten. An hour passed and even in her relaxed state the thoughts of her future continued to hunt her no matter how much she pushed them away.   
  
Her breath caught in her throat as she realized that she wasn't alone. Her eyes flashed open and she found herself nose to nose with Kret.   
  
"Are you getting soft in your old age?" he asked with warm amusement. Jade looked on her prodigy and almost smiled.   
  
"So they've sent you to find me?" she asked, already knowing the answer. Kret sat back on his heels and studied her face. Her features were stone cold.   
  
"They said you wouldn't be harmed. They just want the disk back." Jade looked at the little one she thought of as a son or brother of sorts.   
  
"I don't have the disk, I never did." Kret looked down and sighed. He had never been as stone as Jade had but for all the training he had received he kept a glimmer of humanity burning in his eyes. Then again he had never had and lost freedom like her. He looked back up at her and she saw that he was pleading for forgiveness with his eyes. "You never believed their promise did you?" she said proudly.   
  
"No but I have my orders. Please just come with me and everything will be alright," he pleaded as he signaled to her that he was bugged.   
  
"I can't," she said reluctantly, "now I know too much."   
  
"But can't you forget about her like you were trained?" he asked desperately, tears were starting to form in the thirteen year old's eyes.   
  
"What if I can't?" she calmly argued, "Then I'd die in the interrogation cell knowing I…" she stopped herself. "That's all I can say I don't want you to know too much." Jade stood up to go but Kret was suddenly in her way.   
  
"You know I can't let you go," Kret said as he used hand motions to tell her where Lydecker's men were hiding.   
  
"Then you're going to have to stop me," she said as she gestured her plan to knock him out and swim down the beach to safer ground. He nodded his approval.   
  
"Take care of my bike," she mouthed to him before hugging him.   
  
"Write me," he mouthed back jokingly. She graced him with a smile before they held their mock fight for the bug and she put him under. She ran out across the sand and dove into the water. The tracking device couldn't transmit under water but it was only a temporary fix. She couldn't swim forever.   
  
Lydecker walked into the cave and grimaced/snarled at the prone figure on the floor. He turned around to his men, who were awaiting instructions. "Hicks call in the chopper and search the coast line. I want 10 men to ride out 5 miles in each direction and sweep back. The rest I want to start from here and rendezvous with the other teams half way. Use extreme caution."   
  
Forest   
Part 3   
(a little boy-playing soldier)   
Deck expected me to run as far and as fast away from here as possible. He doesn't know me as well as he thinks. I didn't spend my years at Manticore for nothing, I learn their patterns. Studied the man behind it all so one day I could escape again. I swam straight out into the sea until my lungs burned and then I waited. They would send teams down the coast and rendezvous back at my original escape point. They would wait there, maybe set up a temporary post but eventually they would assume I was gone some how. I could wait. Zack would come for me. It wasn't in his nature to let one of his flock get taken by the big bad wolf.   
~~~~~~~~   
It was dark inside Cale's penthouse and Zack was found his assumption about their plan to be wrong. He didn't like the fact that she was with the civilians, they would slow the escape down, but at least she appeared to be running.   
It took Zack nearly an hour to bypass the security system on Logan's computer. From there he used Logan's system to patch into Lydecker's com signal. He sat for nearly a half-hour, listening to the normal check ins for any indication of their location. In the distance he could hear the ocean and an occasional seagull but nothing else. Maybe if he had better equipment he could triangulate the position but Cale didn't seem to have anything useful.   
  
Suddenly Zack heard the elevator ding and open on this floor. He got up and silently ran to the door. He waited behind it as key turned in the lock slowly. The person was trying to be as quiet as possible. Did he trip an alarm? No he hadn't seen anything. It was only one person so it couldn't have been Lydecker. The door opened slowly and a gun protruded out from around the door. Zack kicked the gun and caught it in thin air. Without even thinking about it he put the safety on took out the clip and threw the gun aside and the intruder didn't even had time to think before he was pinned to the wall.   
  
"Who are you?" Zack asked in his most menacing voice. The man didn't even flinch only looked at Zack calmly.   
  
"My name is Bling, I work for Cale."   
  
"Prove it."   
  
"I have the key," Bling said trying not to smile let alone laugh at the situation. He knew what Max was, only another person like her could move to fast.   
  
"Could be a copy," Zack retorted.   
  
"My sister's wedding pictures, they're one the table over there," Bling said while gesturing with his head. Zack gave him a look that said "You try anything it will be the last thing you do." Zack turned his head and zoomed in on the stack of photos on the glass table. Sure enough Logan, Bling, and a very attractive woman where smiling back at him. Zack released him and stepped back. "Now you want to tell me what you're doing here?" Bling asked calmly.   
  
"Helping a friend," Zack said defensively.   
  
"Does Logan know you're here?"   
  
"No." Bling nodded and he had an expression that Zack could quite place but it made him feel juvenile none the less. Bling took out his cell phone and speed dialed Logan's number. "Hey man,"   
  
"Did you do it yet?" Zack heard Logan say on the other side.   
  
"No not yet."   
  
"What? Was there a problem?"   
  
"No not at all. I just though you should know you have a guest."   
  
"Zack?"   
  
"Right." There was a long pause.   
  
"What does he want?" Logan said with a slight edge to his voice.   
  
"He say's he's helping a friend." Bling deliberately looked back at Zack as he spoke. His tone was genuine and it was an attempt to gain trust.   
  
"I understand. Get him whatever he needs,"   
  
"Got it. See you later." There was a click and Zack stood apprehensively. "He said for me to get you whatever you need," Bling repeated to him.   
  
"I heard," Zack said with annoyance in his voice. "I need some kind of metal detector."   
  
"I'll see what I can do. Anything else?" Zack started to pace as he thought for a moment. Logan wasn't 100% trusted but what options did he have?   
  
"Do you have any contacts who keep tabs on military operations in the city?"   
  
"I'll have to call Logan back to do the contacting but I'm certain he knows the right people." Bling couldn't help but smile a little at the man in front of him. There was something about him. Bling was getting the image of a little boy-playing soldier. He was so serious and steadfast, no worry.   
  
"Good," Zack turned and walked back to the computer to monitor the COM while Bling made his calls.   
  
In the forest of the night   
Part 4   
(flashback)   
  
The ghostly sound of children's laughter filled Jade's head as she sunk to the sandy bottom of the ocean. Her heart rate thumped it's slow beat in her ears and she concentration on slowing it further. She had set her watch for a half-hour to alert her when to go up for air.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
A young Zack stalked through the tall wheat field. He knew he was being followed but he couldn't tell where his tail was. The sun beat down unmerciful on him and he was about to wipe the sweat off his forehead when the breeze blew the wheat to reveal something dark. He blinked and it was gone. He stopped and listened. Just below the sound of the wind, there was a slight crunching sound of shoes on dry dirt. It suddenly grew more persistent and closer. Zack ducked and grabbed the object that went flying through the air towards him and pulled it to the ground.   
  
"Hi Zack, we weren't expecting you till July" said the red head pinned under his foot.   
  
"I had to get out of town," Zack said in his noncommittal way. "Carina, where's Jade?" he said suspiciously. Carina smiled up at him as he suddenly became very alert.   
  
"Around, she…" Carina was suddenly was cut off by Zack's hand motion. His head whipped around as the wind started to blow again. He tried to listen for movement but there was too much noise. Almost as if by command it stopped and the field grew eerily silent. A bird sang off in the distance and then suddenly he hit the ground with a grunt.   
  
"Hi Zack," a young girl said brightly. Zack looked into a pair of sparkling brown eyes. He would be indignant about being pounced but she seemed so dang happy about it.   
  
"Hey," he responded grinning a little.   
  
"Zack are you alright," she said with a serious expression.   
  
"Yeah, why?" he asked confused.   
  
"Cuz I swear I saw you smile," she said with a side ways grin. He responded by pushed her off and getting up.   
  
Beep beep, beep beep, beep beep   
  
Jade could hear Carina's giggling as the persistent alarm invaded her flashback and brought her back to reality. She opened her eyes and looked up towards the surface of the water to check for boat before pushing off the floor.   
  
  
In the forest of the night   
Part 5   
(bite me)   
Jade floated at the surface for a long time. Her head was starting to swim from lack of oxygen. She had thought it was necessary to stay under water for the first few hours. After that, Deck would send the men further out, thinking she would swim as far and fast away as possible. Manticore training had taught them to stay under for prolonged times but she had crossed even her own personal time barrier and it had zapped her strength. The sun was starting to set and the air temperature was getting colder. With every breath she took and every wave that passed she grew colder. She told herself over and over again that it was all within acceptable limits and that she was strong. Jade looked out at the shore again to see a man walking along it and for a moment it looked like her father. Soon the apparition morphed and she could quite tell if the dark spot in the distance was a man or tree.   
  
She took a deep breath and tucked her head back under the water. It wasn't necessary to sit at the bottom of the ocean any more now that the soldiers had already disbursed so she just tucked her knees up to her chest and floated beneath the surface.   
  
Drive   
  
Sometimes, I feel the fear of uncertainty stinging clear.   
And I can't help but ask myself how much I'll let the fear take the wheel and steer.   
  
It's driven me before, and it seems to have a vague, haunting mass appeal.   
But lately I am beginning to find that   
I should be the one behind the wheel.   
  
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there with open arms and open eyes.   
Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there   
I'll be there   
  
So if I decide to waiver my chance to be one of the hive   
will I choose water over wine and hold my own and drive?   
It's driven me before and it seems to be the way that everyone else gets around.   
But lately I'm beginning to find that   
when I drive myself my light is found.   
So whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there with open arms and open eyes. Yeh.   
whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there   
I'll be there   
  
Would you choose water over wine....   
hold the wheel and drive?   
whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there with open arms and open eyes   
whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there.   
I'll be there   
  
"...-- ...-- ----- ....-" a persistent clanging interrupted her haze and she realized she had been falling asleep.   
  
"3304" she mumbled, her mind automatically translating the sound without a conscious thought.   
  
". ---- --... ..--- ----."   
  
"1729"   
  
".---- ..... ----. ----."   
  
"Zack?" she whispered. She was getting so tired and the water was taking away her body temperature even in the survival position she was in. She uncurled herself and tried to swim for shore. Her muscles resisted every effort she made to pull herself along but she was determined.   
~~~~~~~~~   
Jade ran to the edge of the building and looked down the wall. An adolescent Carina and Zack were back up against it Lydecker's men with in a horseshoe around them. Donald Lydecker, the great man himself stood in the back of the group giving orders. In her mind flashed the thought that this was it. If she did nothing her sister and Zack were going back to that hell.   
  
With grim determination she took a few steps back, ran, and leapt over of the roof. She cleared the soldiers and landed exactly where or on who she had intended to. She picked up the man and used him as a human shield. As the soldiers followed her flight it was just enough of a distraction for Zack and Carina to break through the line.   
  
"Let them go or I snap your neck," she commanded in an eerily calm voice. Lydecker said nothing only watched as his soldiers aimed at the fleeing kids. She hadn't expected him too but her sister was escaping and she had half of the soldier's attention, things were better than they could have been. "Back off," she commanded to the approaching half that stayed behind. They stopped their approach but kept their laser sights on her. "You know I could put infront of everyone of those bullets," she said quietly to Lydecker.   
  
"Put you weapons down," he ordered. He wasn't scarred. This was one of his kids, she wouldn't kill him. Jade started to pull him backwards away from the group and some how he knew what she was going to do. As she pulled away to run he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. Just as she was about to lay a punch on him she felt it and then heard it. The bullet penetrated her abdomen and she looked up at him in shock, not really believe he had bested her. She began to fall but Lydecker caught her and eased her down to the pavement.   
  
"I'm sorry," he said and as she looked into his eyes for a moment she believed he was. He was taking her life away and all he had to say was 'I'm sorry'?   
  
"Bite me," she said weakly but full of venom. She starred at him with the most hatred she had ever felt and he flinch. He didn't quit back away quick enough before she swung her arm up making contact with his jaw and sending him to his butt on the pavement. His men quickly pinned her down to bond her for transport and medical attention. She took the opportunity to spit in his general direction before they dragged her away. 


	2. forest611Forest 6 thru 11 the new mis...

In the forest of the night   
Part 6   
(the new mission statement)   
  
Somebody rolled her on her side as she coughed out more water than she thought was physically possible. For a moment, she still thought she was back in the past, bound and being dragged off. She was about to pushed the person next to her away when she realized they were rubbing her back soothingly. Her head began to pound as she opened her eyes to world dancing in front of her and boy was it ever dancing.   
  
"You couldn't let me go, could you?" she asked somberly.   
  
"It's the new mission statement. No one gets left behind." She turned over to see two of him with half smiles on their faces. "Are you okay?"   
  
"Yeah. Just a little tired," she lied. Exhausted, freezing to death, and dizzy would be closer to the truth and Zack knew it. He covered her in a blanket before pulling out the Bling supplied metal detector out of the nearby bag.   
  
It went off near abdomen and she suddenly got very somber. "It could be part of the bullet keep going." He gave her a knowing look but nodded and continued. It remained silent all down her body and she let out a stream of explicatives that would make the hardiest sailor blush.   
  
"Do you kiss you mother with that mouth soldier," came his joking response.   
  
"I've heard you use some pretty harsh language in your day and you were only 15 then." She said weakly, trying to stay awake. Meanwhile Zack tried feel the tracer but to no avail. He pulled out the space blanket donated for Cales emergency supplies and helped her sit up as he wrapped it around her. Her head began to pound harder if that was possible and she had to force her stomach to behave. "So I see it's human burrito time," she said as he taped the crinkling material to her.   
  
"It might not completely dampen the signal but it'll make it harder for them to pin us down."   
  
"Us?" she said disbelievingly. "Zack I don't know if you remember our last conversation but I recall telling you to stay away." She gave him a harsh look but her heart wasn't behind it. Truth was she was scarred. Zack jutted out his chin in his classic stubborn pose and glared at her.   
  
"Yeah well if I had stayed away you would have be fish bait right about now." They starred at each other for a long time daring one another to back down.   
  
"God D*** it Zack," she said frustrated. "My bike is stashed nearby you don't need to put yourself in this kind of danger," she argued. She didn't want to run alone but it was common sense. The idea of it made her heart hurt but her face remained stone cold. "Deck will have my a** plastered on posters around the world in a matter of days and you want to put yourself infront of that." Her voice grew cold as she pulled out the big guns. "What about the people your suppose to protect?"   
  
"What makes you think your not one of them?" he asked.   
  
"I've always taken care of myself before," she said, hitting below the belt. He pulled back and glared at her. He knew she didn't mean it but that didn't make the blow any softer.   
  
"Fine. Get up and walk and I'll let you go," he said as he took his hand supporting hand from her back. Determined she pulled herself to her feet and staggered up the beach. The world was spinning and her stomach did back flips. Why was she being so damn arrogant? She wasn't in any state where she could escape let alone fight a soldier off. She stumbled on a pile of sand and feel to her knees. Her stomach decided at that point that it had had enough and she puked up her last Manticore meal. Thankfully she had enough strength to collapse to the side of it. "Your exhausted and dehydrated," he said in his C.O. voice as he picked her up. "You can be irrational tomorrow."   
  
Tucked in his arms she felt safe for the first time in a long while and she let herself sleep.   
  
  
In the forest of the night   
Part 7   
(you wanna not try to run)   
Jade awoke with a start. She looked down to find a bloody bandage wrapped around her abdomen. Frowning she sat up only to find her wrists in restraints. She pulled against them but she only succeeded in making a lot of noise and getting herself nowhere so she stopped and took the opportunity to look around. It was a rustic cabin deep in the woods from what she could see through the nearby window. Not exactly up to Manticore's usual standards and she wasn't dead so it ruled out that option. She decided to go on a hunch.   
  
"Hey Zack," she yelled. She heard a chair scrapping and then soft footsteps in her direction. The door creaked open and she waited as Zack cautiously looked around the door. Seeing her still in restraints, he walked across the room still unsure but trying to hide it. She followed him with her eyes, trying to look as menacing as possible.   
  
"You know you're interrupting a really good hand," he said in an aloof way as he pulled up a chair backwards and sat down. "I was winning." They starred at each other for a while, one trying to intimidate the other but they were both equally matched when it came to stubbornness.   
  
"So you wanna untie me?" Jade asked with a little smile, not looking away from his eyes.   
  
"You wanna not try to run," he replied mockingly. "Krit said you have to say here just incase something goes wrong with your recovery."   
  
"Nothing's going to go wrong and you know it," she said calling him out.   
  
"Why are you so determined to leave?"   
  
"Why are you so determined to keep me here?" She narrowed her eyes slightly as she switched gears. "Is part of the new mission statement? Stay in one place long enough to get caught. Isn't that how you lost me in the first place?" He didn't respond but she could see him locking his jaw slightly. "Come on Zack," she said with a slight pout, "Save yourself the headache. I'm in the clear, let me fend for myself." Zack starred at her for a long time before suddenly getting up and making for the door. "And Zack," she called after him sweetly. "If you were winning that's only cuz Krit was letting you." Jade smiled a little as he walked out the door. She sighed and starred up at the ceiling. Manticore would be off her back for a while but she still had two responsibly to tend too and Zack didn't need to get involved.   
  
"She's right you know," the woman at the table said as Zack sat down and picked up his hand.   
  
"About what?" he asked as he discarded.   
  
"I was letting you win," she said dealt him another card and ignored the annoyed look he graced her with. "So what do you think?" she said softly enough that Jade wouldn't be able to hear.   
  
"I'm not sure yet," he said simply. "She's hiding something."   
  
"Aren't we all," she responded cryptically. "I owe her one if that means anything to you…Call. Full house against…two pairs," she said, grinning slightly. "Why look at that… I won. So that's what, eight dollars you owe me now?" He gave her a look and she rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah yeah consider it payment for saving your life. Blah Blah." Zack smiled at her as he got up from the table and look his coat from the nearby coach. "You know that's only going to work for so long and then your going to owe me some serious money," she called after him. "So where are you going fearless leader?"   
  
"To arrange transport."   
  
"What does 'to go buy bus tickets' just not sound stealthy enough for you Zack?" She caught the couch pillow he threw at her. "I'll miss you. Come back soon," she said flatly as he went out the door.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
In the forest of the night   
Part 8   
(patch em up and ship em out)   
"Hey sis, It's good to see you awake," Syl said brightly as she walked into the room. "Are you in any pain?"   
  
"Nothing I can't handle." Jade studied her little sis as she got out extra bandages. It had been about 5 years and she wasn't looking quite like the little sister anymore. Manticore had a way of making people seem older but it was strange to see her siblings as adults for the first time.   
  
"You still look a little out of it," she said as she flashed a light in Jade's eyes to check their dilation. Unfortunately she hadn't seen Jade in a while so she wasn't sure if she was suppose to be so pale. "You should try and get a little more sleep."   
  
"Syl you have to let me go before Zack gets back." The sisters exchanged a knowing look. The first time she had been reprogrammed Lydecker sent her to track down Syl. Her teacher had seen the tattoo and considering the girl was only about 12 at the time she made a big deal of it. Jade caught up to her and her family a week later and took her down infront of a group of Manticore soldiers. She didn't know what it was that cracked her. It could have been Syl's little brother and sister crying as she tried to restrain her or maybe the programming just didn't work. Whatever it was, she turned the table and let Syl capture her and played hostage as they got away. That night as they drove off Jade told her all she could about post pulse Manticore and her life with the x-6 and 7s. They owed each other their lives, it was the kind of debt that couldn't be repaid.   
  
"I can't do it," she replied reluctantly. Gently she pulled the taped from around Jade's incision and removed the bandage.   
  
"Since when did you become Zack's lap dog,"   
  
"I'm not," Syl answered with a scoff. "It's just that some of us are a little more political and a lot more subtle than you." There was a pause and Jade waited for her to finish. "With Zack these days it's been all or nothing. I just like to see some of them now and then, you know."   
  
"To patch em up and ship em out," Jade finished for her.   
  
"It's better than nothing...So why are you in such a hurry?" she asked   
  
"I've got some friend to take care of," Jade answered. She tried to keep her expression neutral but it was hard to do under Syl's penetrating stare. She had a way of knowing what you were thinking.   
  
"It's your kids isn't it?" Jade nodded in response. "Why won't you let Zack help?"   
  
"I don't trust them all. There a lot older than we are and I can see Jace in some of them. I would just take a few but Kret...he won't leave the others."   
  
"Sounds like he's going to turn out to be a good man one day," Syl said smiling. Jade rolled her eyes.   
  
"Okay Mrs. Robinson, get back to your patch work." Syl shrugged and taped on a new bandage. The wound was mostly healed but if she knew Jade, and she did, the stitches would definitely get their strength tested.   
  
"Zack'll be back soon. I'll fix you something to eat and then we can talk more." She stopped and gave Jade a mischievous grin. "I'd untie you on your word that you would run…but I don't trust you."   
  
"Why ever not?" Jade asked with mock innocence. Syl chuckled and left the room.   
  
Jade sighed and laid her head back. Maybe she could tell Zack about them. In her head she always imagined pairing some of them up with x-5s so there life wouldn't be as hard and most of all not as lonely.   
  
In the forest of the night   
Part 9   
(to the ends of the earth for you)   
Jade's eyes flew open. A silhouette haunted the streetlight that floated through her window. She almost didn't hear their approach as her nocturnal neighbor played loud country music into the night. Currently Patsy Cline was singing a heart wrenching version of "Crazy". Her bed in sight of the window, Jade calmly closed her eyes blocked out the song and waited. Quietly the intruder opened the window and crawled in. They stalked across the empty room and as they were reaching their hand out to touch the her shoulder they found themselves covered in a blanket and thrown to the ground.   
  
Jade peeled the covers away from her intruder's face to find Zack staring back at her.   
  
"Are you ever going to learn?" she teased in her dark way. It had been almost 5 years and a trip to Manticore since she had been home let alone seen him and now at 17 he looked almost grown up.   
  
"Where's Jack?" he questioned, forgoing a normal proper welcome.   
  
"Out"   
  
"Out where?"   
  
"Some place"   
  
"Why aren't you answering my question?"   
  
"Why are you asking it?" she asked flatly. The starred at each other for a moment and just for the sake of their old competitive relationship neither one backed down. Jade felt herself suddenly getting very warm and all she could think about was how gorgeous he was and horribly uncomfortable her clothes felt.   
  
"Don't check up on me," she said in a dark voice, one that would soon become standard.   
  
"I'm not,"   
  
"Then what are you doing?"   
  
"I don't know, what do you feel up to?" he dared back. The air around them was electric and before she could blink she found herself looking up at him. "I thought I'd never see you again," he whispered to her and for the first time in her life she was speechless. Zack captured her parted lips and initiated a kiss that left them both breathless and a few clothing items short. A new song suddenly started in the background and they broke off.   
  
When the rain is blowing in your face   
And the whole world is on your case   
I could offer you a warm embrace   
To make you feel my love   
  
"I can work with this," Zack said with an innocent smile and kissed her tenderly.   
  
When the evening shadows and the stars appear   
And there is no one there to dry your tears   
I could hold you for a million years   
To make you feel my love   
  
I know you haven't made your mind up yet   
But I would never do you wrong   
I've known it from the moment that we met   
No doubt in my mind where you belong   
  
I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue   
I'd go crawling down the avenue   
There's nothing that I wouldn't do   
To make you feel my love   
  
The storms are raging on the rollin' sea   
And on the highway of regret   
The winds of change are blowing wild and free   
You ain't seen nothing like me yet   
  
Jade suddenly sat straight up with a gasp.   
  
I could make you happy, make your dreams come true   
  
The truck's tin can speakers continued to rattle out the song that was still haunting her memory. Truck, Syl's truck, and Zack was driving. What was going on?   
  
Nothing that I wouldn't do   
Go to the ends of the earth for you   
To make you feel my love   
  
In the forest of the night   
Part 10   
(a little romp in the woods)   
  
Zack   
She woke up so abruptly I nearly tried to hit her. It wasn't necessary as she seemed in complete shock for a moment and looked away. I could even guess at what her dream was but as she turned it almost looked like she was blushing. Jade's a soldier. They don't blush. I was going to ask her if she was okay but it seemed inappropriate. Conversation wasn't necessary, both of us had things to hide, so I kept driving but watched her carefully.   
  
Jade   
I knew he was watching me. Some insane sense of curiosity was probably driving him mad. I could hear a little voice inside of me repeat "please don't ask," over and over again while I thought of quick excuses and retorts to avoid the subject. But he didn't ask and soon I was trying to figure out if it was real or just a dream. We studied psychology books at Manticore and from what I remember it could be about anything from dominance to...d**n, he looks so hot right now with that tight shirt and...   
  
"F**k!" I yelled suddenly without being able to stop myself. Half of my mind was yelling "Oh God did I just yell that" and the other half "Yes please." Oh God what am I going to do. I'm in heat. With all the confusion I had almost forgotten why I had leave to begin with.   
  
"What?" Zack asked half-surprised, half-suspicious.   
  
"Nothing," I snapped back. I know I looked nervous because I wouldn't look at him and I was squirming in my seat but there was nothing I could do. If I so much as thought about his hard tight body and chiseled face… I unconsciously licked my lips and by this time I was digging my nails into my palms so hard I had drawn blood. And when I thought things couldn't possibly get worse and I was already approaching my limit the car started slowing. I looked around and we were still in the middle of no where which would be perfect place too... "Why are we stopping," I said quickly trying to interrupt my thoughts.   
  
"Where not going anywhere until you tell me what's going on." Zack ordered, having no idea what he was getting himself into. Although I'm sure he would mind a little romp in the woods... I whimpered out loud   
  
"Zack get back on the road," I ordered as he came to a stop. In response he only threw the truck into park. Fueled by some sort of insane passion and frustration I screamed "You have five seconds to put this f**king p.o.s. back on the road or I swear by the grace of the Blue Lady you'll regret it." My blood was screaming "Don't do it, I don't know what I'm saying," I could almost hear his jaw tightening and his eyes narrowing and I felt like I was on fire. I turned to look at him and suddenly realization spread on his face.   
  
"Jade I..." that was all he was able to say before I pounced.   
  
In the forest of the night   
Part 11   
(I know you wanna play)   
"Damn you Zack," Jade said to herself but the exclamation was lacking her usual passion. He was ruining her perfectly good plan, granted that plan wasn't intentional but it could have worked. If he had just slept with her she could have shamed or pissed him off enough to let her go. Now she lay in his arms, completely clothed, in the cab of the truck, while he slept. Despite the possessive arm he had draped over her, he was confident enough that she wasn't going to leave, that he fell asleep. "D**n you and f**king honor," she said quietly.   
*******************   
  
"Get off me," Zack yelled as he pushed Jade back and into the steering wheel causing it to beep. Before he could blink she had jumped across the car and was straddling him. She smiled wickedly at him then pouted.   
  
"Oh come on Zacky," she purred as her hands slowly trailed up his thighs. Seductively, she nuzzled his neck and trailed her tongue up to his ear and gentle nipped it. "I know you wanna play," she whispered, and grinned as she felt him shiver. He grabbed her hands, desperately, and twisted them behind her back just as she was starting to undo his belt buckle.   
  
"Not like this, put your head back on," he snapped, channeling all of the frustration he felt into his words. He watched as Jade's playful expression suddenly dropped and he gazed into her big, dark…lonely eyes. He tried to tell himself that it was just a game as she stretched towards him but he could see the longing in her expression and for a moment he began to doubt it was all chemical. Heat radiated off her and her lips were calling.   
  
"Please Zack," she begged softly in the kind of voice that could move any man's heart. Even though he wasn't any man he hesitated just long enough for her to break free and trap him in a smoldering kiss. Her embrace was so passionate, and her mouth fit so perfectly with his, that he couldn't tear himself away as his mind went mushy.   
  
"Let me go with you," he whispered as he began to trail kisses down her neck. Instantly she froze and a moment later his arms were cold and empty.   
  
"Come with me where?" she said quickly as she curled up tightly against the wall on the other side of the bench. Zack reached out his hand and traced the line of her jaw. Her head followed his touch and he could hear a soft purr coming from her throat. Without resistance he slid in beside her and put an arm around her shoulder.   
  
"Where ever you're running too," he said softly after pulling her head up with his free hand so she would look him in the eye. "I want to go with you."   
  
Jade trembled in his trapping embrace and her mind tried to grasp for something...anything, but the longing to touch and be touched by him. Soon she had no pillar left as he moved in and kissed her. Her body exploded with sensation and she could only whimper as he teased her. He knew the right places to touch her and the right way to restrain her so soon she was completely out of her mind with craving. Faintly, she felt a little pain on her neck and her vision began to blur. 


	3. Forest 12 thru 13 You only kidnap the ...

Warning: I am a little tired so there may be a few grammar errors   
  
Recap of story: Jade caught Zack and Max breaking into Manticore and followed them only to find that they stole her sisters blue prints to save her life. Realizing that the theft would be blamed on her Jade took off for the coast in an effort to cover the tracing signal in the caves that I created through artistic license and slight leaning towards Goddesshood. Jade's student Kret hunts her down for Manticore and allows her to escape into the sea. She remains there for a really long time and almost drowns but Zack comes to her rescue (Gold star for him) and turns her into a human burrito while he drives her to Kret (who has had a sex change and later takes on the name Syl) to remove the tracking device which was installed in the gun shot wound Jade received from Lydecker while saving Carina and Zack (*gasp*). Jade wakes up in Syl's house chained to a bed (I can read your mind, you should be ashamed of yourself) only to be drugged and wake up after a really nice dream of getting it on with the person who she was getting it on with (dum dum dum) Zack. To her shock and alarm and To Zacks shock alarm and pleasant surprise she's in heat. He drugs her again and that is where our story starts. P.S. The wheat field is from the farm where Carina grew up.   
  
In the forest of the night   
Part 12   
(You only kidnap the ones you love)   
  
Jade stood barefoot in the dirt and watched as the warm autumn wind pushed and pulled the wheat in a beautiful dance. Time seemed to stand still as she lifted her face to the sky and felt its warming rays. This was heaven, her heaven.   
  
She felt a presence beside her and turned to find Zack standing a few meters away. They watched each other for a moment, both not showing any emotion, as the wind continued to whip around them. Then suddenly, as if she were just looking through a backwards telescope and then took it away, he was right in front of her with his hands on her hips. Her heart began to beat a little faster as he held her still with his eyes.   
  
"I though I'd never see you again," he whispered. To her shock, Jade's eyes began to get misty with tears. She quickly took a deep breath and bit her lip.   
  
"You've said that before," she said quietly. Zack said no more but simply took her head in his hands and kissed her. The sun suddenly grew dark and the wind stopped blowing. Jade started to panic, tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let her go. She didn't want this. She had to get out.   
  
Suddenly she was awake and the last few days started to trickle back to her. She was in Syl's rusted out pickup truck with Zack. Zack…she was against his shoulder. He was still driving although it was well into the night. Panic and dread took over and she started to feel like a caged animal. Suddenly and before Zack realized what had happened she dove across the cab, opened the door and rolled out onto the shoulder. As soon as she stopped tumbling she was on her feet and running into the forest.   
  
She heard the truck swerve and come to a screeching halt. Soon Zack's footsteps pounding in the earth behind her. He was faster but the forest was old and the trees would be easy to hide in. She reached the underbrush and looked for the first place to hide. There was a large tree with high branches and lots of leaves and she ran up it.   
  
Although her footsteps were always light, Zack heard them stop and he slowed. He quickly ducked behind a tree and waited a moment. Nothing. He would try to find her trail but the moon was only a sliver and only she could track in this light. His only course of action was reason, if only to draw out her location.   
  
"I'm only trying to protect you Jade," he shouted, knowing she must be close.   
  
"You only kidnap the ones you love," she shouted back. Zack pinpointed the direction of the comment but didn't move. She would be throwing her voice; he'd have to wait for an unguarded moment.   
  
"If it keeps you safe," he called, egging her on.   
  
"What do you know about keeping me safe Zack? You've led them to me three times," she cried, her voice trembling with anger. "I'd have a better chance living next door to Manticore."   
  
"Would you rather I stayed away?" he asked, begging her in his mind to say no.   
  
"That would be a though," she snapped. In her anger Jade's foot slipped and she landed ungracefully on her butt, shaking the branch and all of the leaves on it. She silently swore at herself, unaccustomed to such lapses of concentration and balance. Panic took over as she heard his feet pounding in the underbrush. She dropped to the ground and took off running but he was close and soon she found herself tackled to the ground.   
  
Too tired of running and too tired of fighting she lay there. Zack, unsure of what to do, became more uncomfortable by the second. Face to the ground with her arms and legs pinned, Jade didn't move for a long time and even though she was breathing normally he was afraid she was hurt. The answer came soon enough in the form of a sniffle. She sniffled again and he rolled off her, remaining close he left an arm across her back. She snuggled against him and soon her sniffles were sobs. Zack remained silent, only gently rubbing her back. When she calmed a little he removed some of the mud and leaf material stuck to her face, still not saying anything. To him tears were normally a sign of weakness but she'd been fighting and running and pretending since she was recaptured. She'd faced torment he could never dream of.   
  
"Why don't you just f**k me and leave already?" she asked bitterly though not daring to look at him. Zack was shocked by her words but he understood. The last two times they made love he had to leave before morning and she was recaptured. He couldn't argue with history so he took a moment to plan his words carefully, not having an exemplary record at pacifying X5 women.   
  
"I don't want to leave you," he said honestly. "Whenever I leave I'm always afraid I'm never going to see you again," he finished quietly, smoothing her dirty red curls back. Although he didn't notice, Jade trembled a little at his words. "Now come on," he said as he got up and gathered her in his arms. "Let's get back to the truck, sleeping on the ground gives me bad dreams." She remained silent the whole walk and even allowed him to lay her in the truck and fall asleep beside her. It was only when she heard his soft snore that she began to think again.   
  
"D**n you Zack," Jade said to herself but the exclamation was lacking her usual passion. He was ruining her perfectly good plan, granted that plan wasn't intentional but it could have worked. If he had just slept with her while she was in heat she could have shamed or pissed him off enough to let her go. Now she lay in his arms, completely clothed, in the cab of the truck, while he slept. Despite the possessive arm he had draped over her, he was confident enough that she wasn't going to leave that he fell asleep. "D**n you," she said quietly.   
  
In the forest of the night   
Part 13   
(a great adventure)   
Somewhere in Between By Life House   
I can't be losing sleep over this, no, I can't and I cannot stop pacing give me a few hours and I'll have this all sorted out if my mind would just stop racing I cannot stand still I cannot be this unsturdy this cannot be happening this is over my head but underneath my feet because by tomorrow morning I'll have this thing beat and everything will be back to the way it was I wish that it was just that easy I am waiting for tonight then waiting for tomorrow and I am somewhere in between what is real and just a dream would you catch me if I fall out of what I fell in don't be surprised if I collapse down at your feet again I don't want to run away from this I know that I just don't need this ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
Zack woke up alone in the truck. It wasn't the first night he'd spent in a car so he wasn't alarmed. It was only when he remembered who should be beside him that he became worried.   
  
Should he have fallen asleep? Maybe he should have talked to her longer? Why did she leave? Could he catch her? Should he catch her? What was that wonderful smell?   
  
His stomach winning over his concentration, he scooted across the bench seat and opened the door. Jade was squatting next to a small fire turning a rabbit on a make shift spit. She gazed up at him emotionlessly or maybe annoyed, it looked the same with her.   
  
"I was wondering when you were going to get up," she said, turning back to her catch. Zack ignored her comment and walked off to commune with nature. "Perfect," she declared a few minutes later and lifted their food from the fire. Zack had to admit she was good, the meat was so tender it practically feel off the bone.   
  
As he stood next to the hatch and ate he subtly watched her. Something was different this morning. It was her posture and the way she ate. Sitting on the rim of the truck bed with one leg dangling over she stooped over her meat. She reminded him of a wild cat. Her long dark hair was also dirty and matted. As it hung forwards half obscuring her face it added to the illusion.   
  
"Thanks," he said in his macho way as he tossed his bones into the forest and wiped his hands on his pants. He sat on the hatch and watched her from the corner of his eye.   
  
"It's not a big deal, I was bored," she replied aware that he was watching. She knew what she looked like but didn't care. Last night had overloaded her. After he had fallen asleep she snuck away and ran through the forest. It was liberating to feel the wind in her hair and the dirt beneath her toes again. She was free for a while.   
  
When her Instructor rescued her from Manticore they ran deep into the Rockies to hide. In shock and uncertain of everything she started to rely on her natural instincts. She slept curled by the fire and would leave before dawn. She would return early in the morning with food for the man she would soon start to call father. Even though sometimes she would be covered in blood when she returned, prowl around the cabin, and even in the beginning growled at him, he would never condemn her for it. Somehow he understood and slowly he domesticated her. He taught her how to be human, something Manticore had never done.   
  
Jade finished and threw her bones off into the woods and licked her hands clean. Zack found this even more intriguing and was watching her with interest. The day before had been a challenge for him, a very frustrating challenge. He cooled his regret by promising himself he would make up for it later. Jade gave on of her fingers a last long lick then paused for a moment to stare into the woods. She rested her head on her knee and turned to him.   
  
"Are you sure this is what you want?" she innocently. Taken back he shifted nervously. For the past few days she had been through hell and managed to blame it all on him, quite rightly of course. She was up to something, he recognized the look in her eyes.   
  
"What?" he asked, trying not to be distracted by the image of her and her fingers. "I still don't know what you're playing at."   
  
"You're going to rescue the damsel in distress," she said smiling sweetly, unnerving him.   
  
"What are you going to do?" he asked gruffly, suspicious of her words.   
  
"Leave you in the dark," she said as she swung off the rail and landed on the ground. She turned around and looked at him. "Are you coming," she said sweetly. "If I know Carina she's already run away from that delicious little bird of hers." Jade opened the truck door and gave him a serious worried stare. "I have to be somewhere else," she said cryptically, "and she's going to need a knight in shiny armor." Not wanting to argue until he knew more he resigned to get in the drivers seat.   
  
"I'm going to need to know more," he said as he started the car.   
  
"Of course," she replied. He leaned forward on the wheel and stared at her waiting.   
  
"I'm going to infiltrate a Manticore training facility and rescue my students," she replied nonchalantly. "In the meanwhile you are going to meet Carina at the old rendezvous point and bring her to us. Then we are going to place as many X-6s in the homes I've found as possible. Then find homes for the others. Is everything understood?" she asked. Zack nodded and put the car in drive.   
  
"Where are we going?" he asked.   
  
"Arizona,"   
  
"What's in Arizona?"   
  
"Do you ever stop asking questions?"   
  
"No."   
  
"To bad, turn left," she ordered. Inside both their spirits were lifted a little. Zack and Jade together again. It's going to be a great adventure.   
  
"So how did you get these families to agree?" Zack questioned.   
  
"Found nice people. There part of an organization that deals with victims of the Katchka small pox epidemic, couples sterile as eunuchs who want little munchkins of their very own."   
  
"How can you be sure this organization is safe? Manticore might keep tabs on these places now after the 09 escape."   
  
"Zack?" she said sweetly.   
  
"What?"   
  
"Shut up," she ordered. 


End file.
